A total of 3.9 million Ukrainians were benefiting from the temporary protection status in European Union countries on March 31 this year, according to the figures provided by the EU statistical office, Eurostat.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Commission activated the Temporary Protection Directive last year as part of efforts to provide more assistance to refugees from Ukraine fleeing the war, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
The EU’s Temporary Protection Directive was first introduced in 2001, and it was enacted in March last year.
According to Eurostat, Ukrainians benefited the most from the temporary protection status in the following EU countries:
Germany (1,067,755 people or 27 per cent of the total)
Poland (976,575 people or 25 per cent)
Czechia (325,245 or 8 per cent)
In comparison to the end of February this year, there was noted a decline in the number of Ukrainian beneficiaries of the temporary protection scheme across the EU (-116,930), which resulted from the deregistration of their temporary protection statuses.
The most significant decrease was detected in the following countries:
Czechia (-122, 585; or -27 per cent)
Sweden (-23 635; or -49 per cent)
Poland (-17 180; or 2 per cent).
At the same time, the most significant increases were observed in Germany (33,125; 3 per cent more), Italy (7,430; 5 per cent) and Romania (6 640; 6 per cent).
“Compared with the population of each European Union member, the highest numbers of total temporary protection beneficiaries per thousand people in March 2023 were observed in Czechia (30.9), Estonia (27.8), Poland (25.9), Lithuania (24.2) and Bulgaria (22.5), whereas the corresponding figure at the EU level was equal to 8.7,” the statement reads.
The figures of Eurostat showed that by March this year, citizens of Ukraine represented a total of 98 per cent of the beneficiaries of temporary protection. Adult women accounted for almost half (47 per cent) of temporary protection beneficiaries in the EU; at the same time, children made up more than one-third (35 per cent), while adult men accounted for less than a fifth (18 per cent) of the total.
On March 4, the EU marked one year of temporary protection for Ukrainians fleeing the war. The Commission said that for one year, about four million citizens of Ukraine benefited from the temporary protection status in EU countries.
The figures provided by Eurostat revealed that the number of temporary protections granted to Ukrainians marked a decrease in February this year, compared to January figures, while the most profound decline was registered in Poland (-3, 540 compared to January this year figures), Germany (-3,080), Czechia (-2,630) and Romania (-1,035).
